bc statutory holidays

Do the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day holidays have you dreaming of more time off? Good news — 2025 is bringing plenty more statutory holidays, and we’re here to help you plan for them. BC recognizes 11 statutory holidays. If you qualify, your employer must give you the day off or pay you more for working that day. They are: New Year’s Day: Wednesday, January 1 Family Day: Monday, February 17 Good Friday: Friday, April 18 Victoria Day: Monday, May 19 Canada Day: Thursday, July 1 BC Day: Monday, August 4 Labour Day: Monday, September 1 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Tuesday, September 30 Thanksgiving Day: Monday, October 13 Remembrance Day: Tuesday, November 11 Christmas Day: Thursday, December 25 Each Canadian province deals with statutory holidays a little differently. Here in BC we don’t get Boxing Day as a statutory holiday, but we do get Remembrance Day. There are plenty of TikTokers sharing tips on how to use the 2025 statutory holidays to your advantage to maximize vacation time from work. Just use caution to make sure their advice matches BC’s statutory holiday schedule. @charlieonhistravels Replying to @Jord ♬ original sound – Charlie on his travels ✈️ Do you qualify for statutory pay? Qualifying employees are supposed to be paid an average day’s wage on a statutory holiday — whether they work or not. The BC government has a handy guide to help you figure out if you qualify. As a general rule, you’re eligible for stat pay if you’ve been employed for 30 calendar days leading up to the holiday and you’ve worked on at least 15 of those 30 days. Some workers are excluded, however. Those include farm workers, nursing students, and managers. Some companies choose to give everyone statutory holiday pay, even if an employee is a new hire or exempt, for payroll simplicity. Does BC have more or less statutory holidays than other provinces? We have a fairly generous amount of statutory holidays here in BC. The only jurisdiction with more than us is the Northwest Territories, with 13 statutory holidays in a given year. Alberta and Ontario only have nine statutory holidays each, and New Brunswick has the fewest with eight statutory holidays. Do you think BC should adopt more statutory holidays? Or do we have enough as it is? Let us know by emailing [email protected]